Chapter 4: The Truth Hidden in a Silver Locket
Bianca stood on the east terrace beneath a canopy of white roses.
She had changed out of her wedding gown and into a cream-colored dress. Her hair was perfectly arranged, her lipstick untouched, and her expression remarkably calm for a woman who had just been discovered sneaking around a secured estate.
Marcus Vane stood beside her, holding a leather briefcase.
When Alessandro approached, Bianca lifted her chin.
“Darling, I'm glad you're here.””
He didn't stop until he stood directly in front of her.
“Give me the document.””
Bianca glanced at Marcus.
Then she smiled.
“You should hear me out first.””
“Give me the document.””
She held it against her chest.
“You're making a terrible mistake.””
Alessandro reached for the paper.
Marcus stepped between them.
“Let's all calm down.””
Alessandro's security guards immediately moved closer.
“Move,” Alessandro said.
Marcus raised both hands.
“I came here to prevent a misunderstanding.””
“You came here without permission, with a forged insurance policy and a document concerning my daughter. You have about five seconds to explain yourself.””
Marcus looked at Bianca.
She gave him a small nod.
Then he opened his briefcase.
Inside were several folders, a laptop, and a small plastic evidence bag.
The bag contained Livia's silver locket.
My breath caught.
Alessandro snatched it from the case.
“Where did you get this?””
Bianca shrugged.
“Your daughter misplaced it.””
“Don't lie to me.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“The locket contains something you need to understand.””
He opened a folder and removed a laboratory report.
The document contained a genetic comparison between Alessandro and Livia.
At the top, a bold line read:
Paternity relationship excluded.
Alessandro stared at the report.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“No,” I whispered.
Bianca's expression softened into something that almost resembled pity.
“I'm sorry, darling.””
Alessandro didn't move.
The wind stirred the white roses overhead.
Somewhere inside the house, a clock chimed.
Finally, Alessandro lifted his head.
“This is fake.””
Marcus shook his head.
“The testing was performed by a private laboratory.””
“Then the laboratory is lying.””
“Alessandro,” Bianca said gently, “you need to accept that Livia isn't your biological daughter.””
I stepped forward.
“You stole a child's necklace and used it to manufacture a paternity test.””
Bianca turned toward me.
“Do you have proof?””
“Do you?””
Her smile widened.
“That's what I thought.””
Alessandro crushed the report in his fist.
“Who authorized this test?””
Marcus answered.
“The sample was submitted anonymously. The laboratory received two specimens and compared them.””
“From where?””
“I don't know.””
“Then you know nothing.””
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“I know enough to tell you that your family has been lying to you.””
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Say one more word about my daughter, and you'll leave this estate in handcuffs.””
Bianca laughed.
It was a small, sharp sound.
“Still defending her. After everything.””
“Everything you've done proves only one thing,” Alessandro replied.
“You are dangerous.””
She tilted her head.
“You should ask Rosalie about Daniel.””
My stomach dropped.
Alessandro turned toward me.
“What does she mean?””
“I don't know.””
Bianca studied my face.
“Really? You never told him?””
“Tell me what?”” Alessandro demanded.
Bianca held the report against her chest.
“Ask Rosalie how she met you. Ask her what she was doing in Boston twelve years ago. Ask her why she disappeared for six months before Livia was born.””
Alessandro looked at me as if the ground beneath him had shifted.
“Rosalie?””
I struggled to find my voice.
“I can explain.””
“Then explain.””
Bianca's eyes gleamed.
“Go ahead. Tell him.””
I looked at Alessandro.
Twelve years earlier, before he became the most powerful man in the room, he had been a grieving younger brother trying to keep his family's company from collapsing.
I had been working as a nurse at a Boston hospital.
I had met Daniel Moretti during a stormy night when he arrived with a broken arm and a bloodied face after a car accident.
He had been frightened, disoriented, and desperate to keep his family from discovering where he'd been.
I had helped him contact a friend.
That was all.
Or so I had believed.
But three weeks later, Daniel returned to the hospital.
He was no longer injured.
He was angry.
He told me he'd made a terrible mistake and begged me to keep his secret.
I had refused.
He left before I could discover what he meant.
Months later, I learned I was pregnant.
The father was a man I'd dated briefly before moving to Boston, someone who had disappeared from my life long before I met Alessandro.
I had never told Alessandro about Daniel because I had no reason to connect the two men.
Now Bianca was deliberately weaving those memories together.
“I met Daniel at the hospital,” I said.
“I helped him after an accident. That's all.””
Bianca scoffed.
“Convenient.””
Alessandro looked at her.
“Enough.””
She raised the report.
“Then let's ask the laboratory to explain why Livia isn't related to you.””
Alessandro stared at the paper.
For the first time that morning, I saw doubt cross his face.
Not doubt about his love for Livia.
Doubt about the truth he had always believed.
I stepped closer.
“Alessandro, whatever this says, Livia is your daughter in every way that matters.””
He looked at me.
“I know.””
But his voice was strained.
Bianca seized the opportunity.
“You know what? Or you hope what?””
Alessandro turned toward Marcus.
“Call the laboratory. I want an independent test, using samples collected under my physician's supervision.””
Marcus nodded.
“That can be arranged.””
“And I want the chain of custody for this report.””
Marcus hesitated.
“The records are confidential.””
Alessandro's smile was cold.
“Then you won't mind explaining that to my attorneys.””
Bianca's face tightened.
“Alessandro, please. Don't turn this into a war.””
“You brought forged documents into my home, stole from my daughter, and threatened her future. You started the war.””
He turned to his security chief.
“Take them both to separate rooms. Nobody speaks to the other until the police arrive.””
Bianca's composure finally broke.
“You can't do this!””
“I can.””
“You promised to marry me!””
“I promised to marry the woman I believed you were.””
As the guards escorted her away, Bianca twisted around to face me.
“This isn't over, Rosalie.””
I held her gaze.
“No. It isn't.””
She disappeared through the terrace doors.
Alessandro remained motionless, staring at the crushed paternity report.
I reached for his hand.
He let me take it.
But before either of us could speak, his phone rang.
It was the family physician.
Alessandro answered.
“Yes?””
The doctor spoke for nearly a minute.
I watched Alessandro's expression change from anger to confusion, then to something resembling horror.
“What do you mean the sample is contaminated?””
He listened again.
Then he whispered, “Are you certain?””
He ended the call slowly.
“What happened?”” I asked.
He looked at me.
“The laboratory report Bianca brought us contains DNA from two different individuals.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“It means someone combined samples before the test was conducted.””
He glanced at the stolen locket.
“And the doctor found something else.””
“What?””
Alessandro's voice dropped.
“The DNA inside the locket doesn't belong to Livia.””
My stomach twisted.
“Then whose is it?””
He stared at the silver backing.
“Daniel's.””
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Alessandro turned the locket over.
A tiny engraving was visible on the back, almost hidden beneath years of scratches.
It was a date.
The date Daniel Moretti had died.
And beneath it were three initials.
R.M.
My initials.
I stepped backward.
“No.””
Alessandro looked at me.
“Rosalie, why would your initials be engraved on my brother's death date?””
I couldn't answer.
Because suddenly, I remembered the envelope Daniel had given me at the hospital.
The one I'd been too frightened to open.
The one I'd hidden in a box before leaving Boston.
The one I had not seen in twelve years.
May you like
And inside it, I remembered, there had been a photograph of Daniel holding a newborn baby.
A baby with Alessandro's family's unmistakable gray eyes.
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